Avoid "Boomeritis"

I noticed in one of my fitness trade journals that a new term has been coined by the Mayo Clinic, "Boomeritis". Since they include my age bracket as being a boomer, I was a little curious about it.

Essentially it refers to injuries that people in their 50s and 60s get when they get over enthusiastic with a fitness program. They can be injuries such as tendinitis, bursitis, stress fractures and tendon tears.

One of the defining characteristics of the boomer population is that they (OK...we) have no intention of growing old gracefully. Getting "old" is just not acceptable. This is why they (we...sheesh!) are looking for every potion, pill, or program that can keep us younger, longer. Jumping into exercise to help sustain youth is no exception.

Here's the problem... impatience. When the results are wanted yesterday and the program needs to be a gradual lifestyle change to be most effective, injuries will occur. We're not old, but we are "older". We've had time to accumulate injuries, health risks, and/or have had plenty of inactivity to decondition our bodies. Reconditioning them, working around injuries and issues, will take time.

Here are 6 recommendations to help avoid "boomeritis":
1) Check with your doctor to see if there is any reason to not begin an exercise program.
2) Warm-up with 5-10 minutes of either light cardio or some dynamic active range of motion movements.
3) Start with a level that is not that challenging. Your job is to first find a "safe zone", a level that you are not sore from the next day.
4) Use proper progression. Once you've found the "safe zone", go up in resistance, reps, or time every session that you can, BUT... by the smallest amount possible. This will help pre-condition your body for more intense levels and will keep the likelihood of injuries down.
5) Be consistent. Plan to get your workouts in on a regular basis. Consistency promotes progress and inconsistency opens you up to possible injuries.
6) Enough recovery is also important. How much and how often really depends on your individual program, but you need to listen to your body.

Of course I believe the best way to begin an exercise program is to seek the guidance of a Personal Trainer. Let's face it, that's why we're here.

Good luck getting started and avoid becoming a "Boomeritis" statistic.

Best wishes, Mark
Mark Nutting, CSCS*D, NSCA-CPT-AR*D
NSCA 2009 Personal Trainer of the Year
Connect with Mark on Facebook and Twitter

Milk, Does It a Body Good..?

The benefits of drinking milk has been the topic of discussion for a very long time and it appears there are the pluses and minuses to consider.

I grew up drinking, not just whole milk, but whole milk that I would often doctor up with PDQ flavored sugar beads (loved the eggnog flavor) and Nestle's Quick (chocolate and strawberry). Here's where the controversy could get started. Is milk a healthy, nutritious drink that can aid fat loss or is it akin to sugary soft drinks that will increase the chances of obesity?

Milk as nutrition: Milk is a good source of protein, carbohydrates, calcium, riboflavin, phosphorous, pantothenic acid, vitamins A, D, and B12. It can also be a large source of saturated fat depending on the % fat of the milk.

Milk as an agent of obesity: Well, if you drink it like I used to, you can see where that might be true. The fact is that if you are over-caloried with anything, you will gain weight. Milk is no exception. Another thing to keep in mind is the various % fat of milks. Approximate values are below. Note that the only real differences are fat content and calories:
1 cup nonfat (skim) milk = calories- 80, carbohydrate- 12g, protein- 8g, fat- 0g, calcium- 300mg
1 cup 1% (low-fat) milk = calories- 102, carbohydrate- 12g, protein- 8g, fat- 2g, calcium- 300mg
1 cup 1.5% (low-fat) milk = calories- 118, carbohydrate- 12g, protein- 8g, fat- 3.8g, calcium- 300mg
1 cup 2% (low-fat) milk = calories- 122, carbohydrate- 12g, protein- 8g, fat- 5g, calcium- 300mg
1 cup whole milk = calories- 146, carbohydrate- 13g, protein- 8g, fat- 8g, calcium- 300mg

Milk as a weight loss tool: Research shows that a high calcium diet (one that meets the recommendations) aids fat loss.  Even greater fat loss occurs when calcium is achieved through dairy sources.*
According to the National Academy of Sciences, recommended intake levels of calcium are:
1,000 milligrams/day for those age 19 to 50
1,200 milligrams/day for those age 50 or over
1,000 milligrams/day for pregnant or lactating adult women

Milk as a sports drink: Because of its high nutritional content, low fat milk is a great post activity/recovery drink. Often times, to increase carbohydrates and the desire to consume it, low fat chocolate milk is recommended for those not concerned with weight loss.*

Lactose Intolerance: The inability to break down lactose (milk sugar). According to the Mayo Clinic resulting gastro-intestinal discomfort is usually mild. There are reduced lactose dairy products that can be consumed as an alternative.

Hormones: Without getting into a big discussion, with all of the concerns about hormone use in milk production, the preference would be to choose milk products that are hormone free.

So what's the scoop? For me, I believe that low fat milk is one of those beautiful power foods that more people should enjoy. Low fat, hormone free, for lactose tolerant... Milk, it DOES a body good!
 
I'd love to hear your feedback and/or answer any of your questions.

Best wishes, Mark
Mark Nutting, CSCS*D, NSCA-CPT-AR*D
NSCA 2009 Personal Trainer of the Year
Connect with Mark on Facebook and Twitter

P90x Insanity and Your Brazilian Core Butt Rhythm Lift BoTai

So, in case you didn't catch the hint, what I wanted to discuss as my first official post for Ensemble Fitness Club is exercise videos. Let's face it, it's a huge business that's been around since Jane Fonda hit the scene. Collage Video,  with thousands of video choices, claims to be the exercise video experts since 1987. Long time video exercise gurus Denise Austin, Kathy Smith, Billy Blanks, and Gilad are now joined by the likes of Jillian Michaels and Bob Harper. Between 2006 and 2007, 8.5 million fitness DVDs were sold in the US. Obviously people buy them, but do they work?

The answer? "yes" and "no". It's really about two things, the video and you.
The video must be safe, have an effective routine/program, and be interesting and engaging.
You must be relatively healthy, injury free, able to repeat movements as shown in good form, AND be self motivated enough to actually do the video workout on your own 2-3 times/week.

How about those new big titles such as P90X, Insanity, Core Rhythms, Turbo Jam, Brazilian Butt Lift(Brazilian Butt Lift...really?)? Well, as always, RESULTS NOT TYPICAL is the rule when you're looking at the testimonials. But, of course, if you move more than you are currently, you will see some results.

CAUTION: While I'm a fan of HIIT or High Intensity Interval Training, (P90X and Insanity base their programs on this type of training) and the results it can achieve, with high intensity comes high risk. If your form isn't correct or if you're working with an injury or illness you are running the risk of of something more serious happening to you. For your safety and best results, I would rather have you working with a Personal Trainer or taking a live exercise class where you can get direct feedback on your form. But, even if you decide you want to use the video program, I'd hire a Personal Trainer to walk you through the exercises to make sure you're doing them correctly.

I'd love to hear your feedback and/or answer any of your questions.
Best wishes, Mark

Mark Nutting, CSCS*D, NSCA-CPT-AR*D

NSCA 2009 Personal Trainer of the Year
Connect with Mark on Facebook and Twitter

New Blogger for Ensemble Fitness Club

We at Ensemble Fitness Club are thrilled to have a new blogger join us. A resident of Saco, ME, Mark Nutting, CSCS*D, NSCA-CPT-AR*D is the National Strength and Conditioning Association's 2009 Personal Trainer of the Year, a 30 year veteran personal trainer, a national presenter, educator, coach and consultant. Mark has recently dedicated his website http://marknutting.com/ to focus on the business of personal training and has agreed to bring his fitness and weight loss posts to this venue. I hope you will all join us in welcoming him here.

Question of the Week: What's Your Biggest Obstacle in Losing Weight?

In keeping with the idea that we can achieve our goals better when we work together (Ensemble), We wanted to turn this over to you and your comments. "What's Your Biggest Obstacle in Losing Weight?" Let us know.

Valentine's Day = More Sweets and Candy

Ah, another holiday, another reason to toss reason aside and eat outrageous amounts of confections. Without getting into meaning/roots, Valentine's Day, Halloween, Easter are some of our "sweets" holidays. I was yet again disappointed to find that my son came home from his school's VDay party having eaten two cupcakes, two lollipops, various other candies and a sugary drink.
Now, I get the desire to have a holiday party, but, with the childhood obesity issues that we are dealing with, why couldn't we make an effort to NOT make it about empty calories.
Our emphasis could/should be on friendship, family, and loved ones. In school, maybe games and activities could be done to strengthen and/or foster friendships. Discussions on favorite activities, favorite memories, books, etc. Talks about how to make friends or what makes a good friend. Just throwing stuff out here. The idea being to make the holiday not about the candy.
As for party food... how about shaping or creating foods for VDay. Cut cheese in the shape of a heart. Shape a platter of vegetables into a heart or Cupid.
It's all of our jobs to step up and start to make changes in our own approaches to these holidays. I hope this has given you a little food for thought. (yes...pun intended ;-))

Top 10 Fitness Trends According to American Council on Exercise

The American Council on Exercise (ACE) has announced the top ten fitness trends from 2009, based on its annual survey of personal trainers, group fitness experts, advanced health and fitness specialists and lifestyle and weight management consultants.

The following represents ACE's listing of the top trends for 2009, the commentary is ours:


1. Boot Camp-Style Workouts: All the rage now. Some are more traditional military style and others have gone for more specialized participants (Bridal Bootcamps, Sport Drill Bootcamps, Weight Loss, etc.) I think the variety and intensity is the key to its popularity.

2. Budget-Friendly Workouts: Working out with 2, 3, 4, + other participants, while not offering undivided attention from a Personal Trainer, do offer well supervised programs for those on a budget.

3. Specialty Classes: People love variety. So, whether its Latin dance based, Hip Hop, Mind-Body, or even Pole Dancing, people seek out specialty classes to keep exercise interesting.

4. Getting Back to Basics: I believe that this is the realization (by Trainers) that many of the basic free weight exercises that had been replaced by high tech machines, have found their way back into programs due to having greater carryover to sports and activities of daily living than the machines.

5. Circuit Training: a variety of training exercises that keep you moving, maximizing your benefits in the shortest amount of time.

6. Kettlebells: The old school implement of the day. Essentially a weighted ball with a handle on the top, it can be tossed, flipped, etc. Something different for people.

7. Boomer Fitness: Well, more boomers, more boomer fitness.

8. Technology-Based Fitness: From MP3 players that will choose music based on the pace you are running, to interactive computer based nutrition programs, to exergaming, we love our tech.

9. Event or Sport-Specific Exercises: Events, sporting or otherwise, offer specific exercise protocols with a definite deadline.

10. Mixing It Up: Again... variety. (I think you get the point)

What motivates you?